


The Cursed Pearl

by Dracostar



Category: The Dark Crystal (1982), The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (TV)
Genre: Alcohol, Blood and Gore, F/F, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Murder, One-Sided Relationship, Pirates, Slow Build, Swearing, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:14:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24575146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dracostar/pseuds/Dracostar
Summary: 200 trine before the events of Age of Resistance...Another rebellion began.Melria, the half-Drenchen half-Sifan First Wing aboard the Omyera, has taken to the sea for one thing and one thing only:The Mariner.With her heart firmly set on her goal, she left her comfortable life on the shore to pursue her dream; after subjecting herself to many trine of hard toil, it seems it's finally within reach.But working under Lord SkekSa may not be all that it seems. Trouble is brewing, creeping under the protective barrier of Vassa's shell, and as cries of mutiny break the peace Melria has always known, she soon discovers she may have to make a choice: the question is, what is she willing to die for?
Relationships: Gelfling oc/Skeksa (implied)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

The three brothers began to set, heading to their home beyond the horizon after a long day of granting light to the world. They glared over the waters of the Silver Sea, casting gorgeous shimmering lights that mingled with the soft reds and oranges and pinks of the twilight. The view was even greater from a height, on the bow of the largest ship in Cera-Na. 

Those were only a few of the many passing thoughts Melria had as she gazed out over the deck of the Omyera, contemplating whether or not she could risk a swim in the coming nightfall. Her sky blue gaze skirted over the side of the coral ship, her fin-like wings flickering in eagerness for the waves- or was it just nervous anticipation?- A swim, either way, would soothe her. 

She placed a boot on the rail, her wings flickering even more eagerly as she considered shedding her heavy Sailor's coat right then and there, and diving in, forgetting the surface for but a little while, escaping into an underwater world of bubbles and currents…

She stepped away before the idea became reality; as much as she would like to, she could not abandon her duties on deck when she was needed most. Her wings flicked again, and she folded them away to avoid their siren's call. A very important juncture was to take place that night. At any moment, the guest of honor would be arriving, and her presence would be required. 

"First Wing Melria!" 

She turned quickly at the call of her name, facing a sailor many trine her junior. He saluted, and she gave him permission to speak with a wave of her hand.

"Maudra Vinla requests you in the Hailing Chamber. She's entrusting you to oversee the preparations, to ensure our guest is comfortable." 

He stumbled a little as he spoke to her, too obviously nervous judging by the way his body tensed. Melria didn't blame him one bit; she was known amongst the crew as an intimidating type, no doubt due to her constantly furrowed brow and devastating height for a gelfling. A thin smile edged its way across her lips, and she leaned forward. 

"Tell the Maudra I'm on it," She purred. 

He swallowed and scurried away as soon as he was dismissed, the poor lad just missing the sight of a large black shell breaching the surface of the waves like enormous claws. Melria's heart hammered in her chest, and she rushed into the interior of the ship. 

Their guest had arrived.


	2. Chapter 2

In the Omyera's belly, in a rich, lavished room, she ordered the sailors about, leaving not one idle in their preparations. They could not run the risk of leaving anything out of place, nothing was to be neglected; Melria would not have such failure under her account, not when she had been put in charge of something so severe. 

She scanned her crew members, watching every move they made with a keen eye. One sailor- one of the younger of their new recruits- grumbled under his breath sourly as he fiddled with an anemone bouquet- one that needed no fixing. The well-worn furrow over Melria's brow creased. It seemed some of the less subtle of her methods were required. 

She stepped over in a few short strides, her heavy boots hammering against the smoothed coral floor. The young seaman didn't stir a bit, too wrapped up in his indolent musings to take notice. Melria frowned further and folded her hands behind her back, her wings buzzing in irritation. 

"Sailor." A short bark. 

He spun around, his expression shifting from grievous to startled, then pale fear when he saw who had called him out. He fumbled with his hands, murmuring quiet apologies and excuses Melria had no patience for. 

She examined him with silent disdain, then turned eye to his work. 

"...I don't recall putting ye on flower duty." 

"You-you didn't, Ma'am. I was just-" 

"Didn't your Capt'n order all low-ranked Sifa to the Hailing Chamber for preparations? Didn't your Capt'n warn ye what would happen should any Sifa fail?" 

"Y-Yes Ma'am, I-" 

Melria leaned in so close they were almost nose-to-nose. Her thick black locs hung down from under her hat, swaying gently in the breeze of his nervous breath. 

"Your Capt'n gave an order, wee sailor. I suggest ye get to it, then." 

He didn't need to be told twice. He scrambled away, nearly knocking over an abandoned mop in his haste; this he took up, and with it, eagerly began scrubbing the floors. Order having been restored, the thin smile returned, and she went back to surveying the others. Under her stern guidance, they finished ahead of schedule and scurried away, back to whatever they had been doing before their guest arrived. 

It was quite the arrival; Musicians, undoubtedly the best Vinla could summon, played on their coral fircas and lutes and harps, stringing the limited air inside the vessel with a vibrating fanfare. Flags rolled down the walls, colorful tapestries telling old sifan tales of their guest's greatness, though none of it, for all its ornate homage, could compare to the One herself. 

She strode into the room with a gait as smooth as silk, her ruffled gown seemingly crafted from the same material. Her heavy boots made the chamber shudder with each footfall, but Melria stood as firm as an ape knot in a storm against it; her own pounding heart, she knew, would be a much more trying challenge to still. 

Maudra Vinla streamed in after her, her own bells and jewels ringing lightly with each step she took. The pearl inlaid headband she wore shimmered in the lantern light, reminding Melria faintly of a pale fish hiding in a tangle of red kelp; but then again, her hair always reminded Melria of red kelp. 

"Welcome to our humble Hailing Chamber, Lord SkekSa," she said, all smiles and jewels, offering the imperial presence a sweeping bow. 

A smile in turn appeared upon the corners of the Skeksis' beak. She doffed her hat, bending down in a graceful gesture to pat Vinla upon her head, as if she were nothing but a child she was fond of; and very well, she might have been. SkekSa had been on these seas longer than any gelfling had been alive. She was ancient, powerful, all encompassing with her glory. 

Melria stood at her post next to one of the many fine cushioned couches, all of which could sit a gaggle of six gelfling or more. A heavy silk banner fell across her shoulder, draping over her left wing almost painfully, but she refused to move. She could not let a single hair out of place until her Maudra gave her permission to do so. 

Vinla gestured for SkekSa to take a seat. The couch creaked under her weight as she inclined upon it like a lavish queen, her skirts and coat folding over the lush cushions and pillows like pools of luxury. Vinla adjusted her own green skirts and laid beside her, making a forcefully casual gesture with her wing towards one of the servers. The poor waiting girl hurried forth, a tray laden with crystal clattering enough to make Melria nervous for her. 

Vinla gave the girl a disapproving glance, but took up the decanter offered. This she poured into a glass the Mariner was handed, the dark blue liquid inside not nearly as sanguine as the smile on the Maudra's face. 

"Mariner," she cooed, "your visitation is a most welcome occasion. I only wish we had ample time to prepare; we'd have had enough wine to drown Vassa with!" 

That remark was followed by a laugh much too loud to be genuine; but SkekSa didn't seem to notice. Her own laughter filled the chamber, the jovial sound rumbling deep in Melria's bones long after it had left the Mariner's throat; but she held the memory of the pleasant vibration for a moment after that. 

"And that would have been delightful, darling," SkekSa rumbled in her rich voice, "but a party is not the occasion for which I've come." 

Melria noticed Vinla's sharp ears disappearing into her mane of red hair- folding back as a sure sign of fear- but that smile did not leave her face. Melria almost respected the aplomb with which she handled the visibility of her emotions. 

"Oh? And would it be much too forward of your servant to ask what the occasion may be?" 

SkekSa chuckled, another deep, velvet sound that almost made Melria's legs quiver in weakness. The Mariner took a sumptuous sip of her wine, one of her smaller claws reaching out to scratch under Vinla's chin like she was a particularly beloved fizzgig. 

"Not too forward at all, my dear," she took another sip and smacked loudly. 

"Actually, I'm here for a new Quartermaster. My old one just retired. Poor old kelper, cried when I let him go." 

She shook her head in pity, then shrugged. 

"But what was I supposed to do? At his age, he couldn't keep ship like he used to...I hated to send him off so soon, but he'll thank me before too long. That pension suits him well, I hope-" 

She paused suddenly, her beak snapping closed with a sharp sound as soon as her eye landed upon Melria. She turned her head so that the full force of the red eyed gaze was upon her, and the First Wing wasn't sure if her heart would beat again. 

For a small eternity SkekSa examined her, up and down, from tilted hat to large black boots. 

"... _You_. You're mighty tall for a gelfling, my dear." 

Melria glanced towards her Maudra, who waved at her frantically to speak. Her face warmed like an ashamed childling; was this how her sailors felt when she glared them down? 

She removed her hat, holding it to her chest in a sign of respect. "A-aye, Lord Mariner. It's well known as my defining feature." 

An embarrassment to her in her youth. How many times had she cursed Thra for her height? The physical feature that made her so easy to identify? That earned her so much teasing and many a jeer from family members and absolute strangers alike?- Of course, only after she had grown older and wiser had she found a way to weaponize it; who, after all, would be so bold to tease a grim gelfling who towered over you? 

SkekSa gave her that searching look again, her eyes so vastly intelligent they felt as if universes were contained within. They pierced her, seeming to hunt out each detail and every little secret she had thought so well hidden…

"And why do you linger about that wall like a pretty coat rack? Come forth, dear. Don't be shy." 

There was a way with which SkekSa called her 'dear' that made her want to melt. She hurried forward, hoping she didn't seem too desperate at her Lord's beckoning, and gave her a short bow. 

"Oh! Half Drenchen!" SkekSa exclaimed, "I thought that height had to come from somewhere. I couldn't get a good enough look to tell otherwise, with you hiding behind that tapestry like some sort of wallflower. Have a seat." 

Melria obeyed, awkwardly sitting near to the flowing tides of cloth on SkekSa's other side. She watched Vinla closely and tried to copy the way she held her wings and folded her legs- and more than likely failed miserably. 

But Thra must have been smiling upon her, because SkekSa either didn't care or didn't notice. She sipped her wine again, letting Vinla offer her a refill as she prattled on. 

"-Well if it's a Quartermaster you're looking for, I'm sure anyone aboard the Omyera is willing. I could call up some volunteers for you to choose from if you like-" 

"I will go." 

All eyes turned to Melria as soon as the words left her mouth. SkekSa gave her that searching look again, while Vinla on her far side raised her brows in sheer shock at her First Wing's bold declaration. 

"You?" SkekSa phrased it like a question, though her light tone was anything but incredulous. It was just a slight command, ordering her to explain herself. 

Melria swallowed and tried to will her face to stop flushing. This was the chance she had waited for all her life. She couldn't afford to miss it now. 

With her voice steeled, she looked the Mariner straight in her eye, though the feat nearly caused her to lose consciousness. 

"Yes. I will be honored to take on the role of Quartermaster, Capt'n." 

She cursed inwardly as her accent slipped out. SkekSa tilted her head. 

"That accent. Does our brave volunteer hail from the southern Sifan coast?" 

Melria nodded. "Yes, Cap- Lord Mariner. It's closer to the swamps." 

The Skeksis Mariner leaned back on the couch, stroking under her chin nostalgically. 

"Ah, the Swamps. I haven't been that far south in many a trine." 

Vinla, apparently feeling left out, perked up. 

"At least a few hundred trine, correct? We have a tapestry over here commemorating the day you-" 

SkekSa waved her off with a grand gesture of her hand and a few snaps of her fingers.

"Yes, yes, but that's off-topic. Now back to business." 

She leaned towards Melria, placing her arms across her knees. Her face was so close now that Melria could reach forward and kiss her right on the nose if she had pleased- but who would be brave enough to try that? 

"So, what makes you think you're qualified enough to join me aboard Vassa?" 

"I've served 16 trine as capt'n of my family's ship- the _Cailsan-_ and I've served as Maudra Vinla's First Wing for the past 45 trine." 

Melria twisted her hat between her hands. It had been a hard, long 61 trine on the sea. She had to work her way from the very bottom, carefully climbing the ranks, toiling and slaving away day after day, simply to stand where she was. To be face-to-face with the Mariner, to be in her regal presence. 

She had been the only reason Melria left the shore. Her life had been comfortable enough, with her feet planted firmly in sand, selling charms to travelers and whoever else washed up on the southern beaches in those days. 

But that much detail was not necessary. SkekSa seemed satisfied enough with this answer without further elaboration. 

"Ah, a well experienced sailor, then. You have a name as well, I assume?"

"Melria, my Lord." 

She stroked the feathers under her chin again, then downed the rest of her wine. Plopping the glass into Vinla's hands, she rose and plucked her hat off of one of the many cushions scattered about. With a few quick brushes she put her skirts back in order and turned back towards Melria. A clawed appendage extended outward, pointing directly at her. 

"Then collect all your belongings," she said, "and prepare to board my ship, Quartermaster Melria." 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Something I've been working on for awhile...in my head. I hope you enjoy it! All comments/critiques, etc. Are appreciated! Thank you for reading!


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